Scarifier-pulverizer

ABSTRACT

A scarifying and pulverizing implement for mounting on earthworking equipment in which such implement has a plurality of adjustably mounted ripper teeth for penetrating the soil, an inclined front face for rolling and crushing the uplifted soil, and a plurality of spaced plates extending forwardly from the inclined face prohibiting extensive lateral displacement of the pulverized soil.

nited States Patent [1 1 1 itchell [451 Sept. 17, 1974SCARIFIER-PULVERIZER [76] Inventor: Donald R. Mitchell, 1937 W. 24thSt., Apt. 6B, Emporia, Kans. 66801 [22] Filed: Oct. 27, 1972 21 Appl.No.: 301,412

[52] US. Cl. 172/197, 172/766 [51] Int. Cl A0lb 49/02 Field of Search172/196, 197, 271, 276, 172/801, 802, 766, 777, 513, 694, 784, 785,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 953,792 4/1910 Mitchell172/766 1,945,518 2/1934 Carlson 172/784 X 2,840,933 7/1958 Brem 37/11752,871,959 2/1959 Koskenmaki 172/197 3,460,633 8/1969 Richey et a1172/777 X Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Pellegrino Attorney, Agent, orFirmA. Yates Dowell, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A scarifying and pulverizing implement for mounting onearth-working equipment in which such implement has a plurality ofadjustably mounted ripper teeth for penetrating the soil, an inclinedfront face for rolling and crushing the uplifted soil, and a pluralityof spaced plates extending forwardly from the inclined face prohibitingextensive lateral displacement of the pulverized soil.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 SCARIFlER-PULVERIZER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally toearth-working implements and particularly to a combination scarifyingand pulverizing tool which is selectively connected to support arms ofvarious types of earth-working equipment.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore there has been continuousdevelopment with respect to various types of scarifying and pulverizingequipment for use in soil preparation and treatment. The early artdiscloses the use of harrow teeth and beveled boards in combination andconstructed as large dragging implements as in US. Pat. No. 253,342 toBlosser. These drags, however, were bulky and cumbersome and afforded aminimum of penetrative and pulverizing effort without the addition ofexcessive weights to force the drag teeth to penetrate the earth whilesupplying adequate weight to pulverize hardpan and other dense soils.

With the advent of heavy and powerful earthworking equipment, it becamepossible to achieve the effort needed to penetrate and break dense soilsand clays. However, there was little effort given to pulverizing thesoil as it was broken up by a scarifier. Instead, back blading and dragtechniques were used to smooth the surface materials. In order toprevent the equipment from having to cover the same ground twice whenback blading techniques were used, scarifier teeth were mounted facingthe rear of the equipment and to the rear of the blade as in US. Pat.No. 2,695,468 to Mac- Leod, or exra blades were attached with thescarifiers as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,1 12,573 to Moras. Thesemodifications allowed the combined operation of scarifying andpulverizing, by back blading, to be performed more economically.However, back blading not only has the tendency to pack the scarifiedmaterial instead of pulverizing it, but allows material to be gatheredin front of the blade and subsequently displaced laterally during theoperation.

There has been some effort directed toward implements which provide somecontainment and pulverizing action together with a scarifier tool. U.S.Pats. such as Nos. 3,069,791 to French and 3,034,238 to McGee describethe addition of various leveling pans or blades in combination withscarifier teeth. These systems, however, require special mountings andlift capabilities and are also bulky and complex in themselves.

Other examples of the prior art include US. Pat. Nos. 2,279,869 toHouston; 2,302,702 to Leschirsky; 2,840,933 to Brem; 2,840,935 to Birdet al.; and 2,992,499 to McSpadden.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A combination scarifying and pulverizingimplement which is selectively attachable to earth-working equipment andincludes a generally rectangular tool support beam having a plurality ofdivider members extending forwardly from the front face of the supportbeam to reduce lateral displacement of material being pulverized. Atleast one inclined plate is disposed between the divider members forrolling and pulverizing the soil which is loosened by scarifier teethadjustably connected to the support beam.

It is an object of the invention to provide a tool which is selectivelymounted on earth-working equipment and is capable of both rippingthrough and pulverizing dense soils and clays leaving a relativelysmooth, aerated surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a scarifying andpulverizing tool for use with earth-working equipment having a blade inwhich the tool is selectively mounted on the blade support arms in sucha manner that the blade cooperates with the tool to form a chamberbetween the lower rear portion of the blade and the inclined face of thetool, and such chamber serves to contain the uplifted earth thusimproving the pulverizing action of the tool by allowing the material toroll while preventing material from being lifted over the working faceof the pulverizing implement.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for preventingexcessive lateral displacement of material being worked, therebyallowing for a more complete and uniform soil treatment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective illustratingone application of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the implement per se.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG; 4 is a side elevation of the implement mounted on a blade supportarm of a propelling vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawings, a scarifying and pulverizing implement 10 is provided for usewith a propelling vehicle 30. The propelling vehicle 30 has anearth-working blade 31 attachd thereto by blade support arms 32 locatedon each side of the vehicle. The blade support arms 32 have a generallyrectangular cross-section and are inwardly tapered to facilitateconnection with the earth-working blade 31.

The combination scarifying and pulverizing imple ment 10 includes asupport beam 11 of generally rectangular cross-section having a top wall12, bottom wall 13, rear wall 114, and front wall 15. The top and bottomwalls are provided with a plurality of aligned openings 16 and 17,respectively, which selectively receive the shank 18 of a scarifiertooth 19. Each of the shanks 18 includes one or more notches 20 to allowan ease of vertical adjustment of the scarifier teeth in obtaining thedesired depth of penetration. Locking keys 21 are provided to lock theshanks 18 to the top wall 15 by prohibiting any horizontal movement ofthe scarifier shanks relative to the notched engagement with the topwall of the support beam.

A plurality of divider members 22 are welded or otherwise attached tothe front wall 15 of the tool support beam 11 in such a manner as toextend forwardly of, and generally normal to such front wall. Thedivider members are tapered along their outermost upper edge 23 toeffect a closer engagement between the implement l0 and the lower rearportion 33 of the earthworking blade 31.

The implement also includes a series of pulverizing plates 24 which arewelded or otherwise attached between the divider members 22. Thesepulverizing plates are inclined outwardly from the lower portion of thefront wall of the tool support beam 11 to a point along the upper edgesof the divider members 22.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is adapted to be mounted onthe blade support arms 32 of a propelling vehicle 30, as illustrated inFIG. 1. A mounting bracket 25 is located adjacent to each end of thesupport beam 11 and each bracket includes a pair of vertical engagementplates 26 which are angled outwardly from front to rear generallycomplementary with the contour of the blade support arm 32. The verticalengagement plates 26 are flared at the top 27 providing a guide meansfor attachment of the implement to the blade support arm. The engagementplates 26 are further provided with flange supports 28 which serve tostrengthen the mounting bracket along the line of the implement 10. Afastener such as a locking bolt 29 is removably mounted just below theflared portion 27 and connects the plates 26 above the arms 32.

In the operation of the device, the implement is placed on a levelsurface, and the propelling vehicle is brought into position with theblade 31 above the implement l0 and the blade support arms 32 above themounting brackets 25. As the blade is lowered from this position, theblade support arms are received between the vertical engagement plates26. The propelling vehicle is then moved slightly forward until thevertical engagement plates cooperatively engage the sides of thecontoured portion of the blade support arms. Thereafter, the bolt 29, orother connection, is secured in place above the blade support armsthereby locking the tool in position. When removing the tool, thevehicle operator merely removes the bolt or pin 29 and with the tool onthe ground backs slightly so as to separate the engagement plates fromthe blade support arms. The blade support arms are then lifted out ofengagement with the tool mountings.

In use, the scarifier teeth 19 may be mounted to the implement or not.If pulverizing action is all that is required, the locking keys 21 arelifted out and the scaritier teeth removed. However, if the scarifierteeth are used, they are simply adjusted to whatever depth ofpenetration is required. As the propelling vehicle moves along theground, the beam 11 is spaced slightly above the earth so that thescarifier teeth force the earth upwardly into the chambers created bythe lower rear portion of the blade, the divider members, and thepulverizing plates. In the chambers, the earth is rolled and pulverizedwhile being prevented from excessive lateral displacement and the smallgranular particles pass under the beam 11 to provide a smooth levelsurface.

I claim:

I. A pulverizing implement for selective attachment to earth-workingequipment having spaced blade support arms comprising an elongated bodyhaving vertically extending mounting means adjacent the ends thereof forselective engagement with the blade support arms, a plurality of spaceddivider members extending forwardly of said body and substantiallynormal to the longitudinal axis of said body, the lowermost portions ofsaid body and said divider members being in substantially horizontalalignment, pulverizing plate means disposed between each of said dividermembers and being inclined upwardly and forwardly from a point adjacentthe lowermost portion of said body to a position along the length ofsaid divider members, whereby said divider members and said pulverizingplate means form a plurality of chambers for pulverizing earthenmaterials and restricting the lateral displacement of the material beingpulverized.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which each of said divider membersincludes an upper edge which is inclined forwardly and downwardly alongthe outermost portion thereof.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which each of said vertically extendingmounting means includes brackets having a pair of spaced generallyvertical engagement members, said members of each pair being angledoutwardly from front to rear along their width generally complementarywith the contour of the equipment blade support arms, said verticalengagement members having reinforcing means on their outer sides, andretaining means for clamping said vertical engagement members to theequipment blade support arms.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said vertical engagement membersare flared outwardly at their upper ends to guide the equipment supportarms between said members.

1. A pulverizing implement for selective attachment to earthworkingequipment having spaced blade support arms comprising an elongated bodyhaving vertically extending mounting means adjacent the ends thereof forselective engagement with the blade support arms, a plurality of spaceddivider members extending forwardly of said body and substantiallynormal to the longitudinal axis of said body, the lowermost portions ofsaid body and said divider members being in substantially horizontalalignment, pulverizing plate means disposed between each of said dividermembers and being inclined upwardly and forwardly from a point adjacentthe lowermost portion of said body to a position along the length ofsaid divider members, whereby said divider members and said pulverizingplate means form a plurality of chambers for pulverizing earthenmaterials and restricting the lateral displacement of the material beingpulverized.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which each of said dividermembers includes an upper edge which is inclined forwardly anddownwardly along the outermost portion thereof.
 3. The structure ofclaim 1 in which each of said vertically extending mounting meansincludes brackets having a pair of spaced generally vertical engagementmembers, said members of each pair being angled outwardly from front torear along their width generally complementary with the contour of theequipment blade support arms, said vertical engagement members havingreinforcing means on their outer sides, and retaining means for clampingsaid vertical engagement members to the equipment blade support arms. 4.The structure of claim 3 in which said vertical engagement members areflared outwardly at their upper ends to guide the equipment support armsbetween said members.